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A Critique: Jewish Telegraphic Agency coverage of Fatah Congress in Bethlehem

By
David Bedein
-
The Fatah Congress, launched on Tuesday in Bethlehem, focused on Fatah’s determination to continue the armed struggle against the state and people of Israel.
However, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) Correspondent Dina Kraft waits until graph nine to even mention the threat of continued Fatah war against Israel:
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/08/04/1007021/fatah-congress-focuses-on-split-with-hamas
JTA ignores the official statement of the Israel Minister of Information who declared that the statements of this Fatah Congress represent a declaration of war against the state of Israel.
http://imra.org.il/story.php3?id=44973
JTA ignores the refusal of the Fatah to remove the “armed struggle” from the Fatah platform:
http://israelbehindthenews.com/bin/content.cgi?ID=3686&q=1
JTA ignores Fatah columnists who editorialized this week as to why Fatah must maintain the “armed struggle as part of the Fatah’s bylaws”
http://imra.org.il/story.php3?id=44974
JTA ignores coverage of the Middle East Newsline which features interviews with a wide range of Fatah leaders who call for the continued armed struggle
http://israelbehindthenews.com/bin/content.cgi?ID=3695&q=1
http://imra.org.il/story.php3?id=44970
JTA ignores Fatah refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state:
http://israelbehindthenews.com/bin/content.cgi?ID=3688&q=1
JTA ignores Fatah TV shows aired this week which define
Haifa, Acre and Jaffa as Palestinian cities
http://imra.org.il/story.php3?id=44980
Since the Fatah Congress resumes on Wednesday morning, it will be instructive as to whether JTA will continue to downplay the spirit of this seminal meeting, which represents a lethal threat to the state and people of Israel

ARMED STRUGGLE ON THE TABLE: Middle East Newsline Provides Hands-On Coverage of Fatah Conference in Bethlehem: Fatah Bolstered By Commanders From Abroad

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

The ruling Fatah movement has been bolstered by dozens of military commanders abroad, some of whom prepared to
stay in the West Bank.

Nearly 100 Fatah commanders and senior operatives have arrived in the
West Bank for the movement’s general conference, scheduled to begin on Aug.
4. Some of the commanders, long sought by Israel for mass-casualty attacks,
said they would remain in the West Bank and help renew war against the
Jewish state.

“Do we want Fatah to be a liberation movement?” Fatah commander in
Lebanon, Sultan Abu Einan said. “If so, then we must translate this into
actions on the ground.”

The Fatah commanders were said to have arrived from Egypt, Jordan,
Lebanon and Syria. Many of the arrivals have called for an alliance with
Iran to facilitate the resumption of war against Israel.

“Maybe the most important thing is to maintain that our movement is
still in the national liberation stage and preparing to build its authority
for the next stage,” Qasim Subih, Fatah secretary in the Lebanese city of
Sidon, said.

Some of the commanders expressed surprise that Israel allowed their
entry to the West Bank to attend the Fatah conference, the first in 20
years. One visitor was Khaled Abu Usba, a member of a Fatah cell that
hijacked a bus in Israel in 1978 in which 36 civilians were killed.

“I’ve waited for 30 years to return to Palestine,” Abu Usbah told the
Palestinian news agency Maan. “And now that I’m here I have no intention to
leave. I will wait until I obtain residency here and until my wife and
children join me.”

More than 2,200 delegates from 70 countries were invited to the
conference. Many of them have called for the renewal of the military option
against Israel.

“It is impossible for Jerusalem to be restored to us without thousands
of martyrs,” Brig. Gen. Tawfik Tirawi, the military adviser to PA Chairman
Mahmoud Abbas, said. “Anyone who thinks that America will return Jerusalem
to us is mistaken.”

The former Fatah militia chief in the northern West Bank agreed.
Zakariya Zubeidi, who in 2008 signed an agreement to renounce violence, said
Fatah and the Palestinian Authority were being trained by foreign advisers
to restore a military option against Israel.

“I am happy that our army is trained in Jordan in Egypt, in Russia, in
several countries around the world,” Zubeidi told Maan. “In case of a future
war, we will have some people who will be trained.”

Israeli officials said they were closely monitoring the Fatah conference
and placed security forces on alert for any violence. They said the Fatah
threats against Israel could lead to a resurgence of violence against
Israeli soldiers and civilians in the West Bank.

“This is a declaration of war on the state of Israel,” Israeli
Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz said.

Historic Fatah Conference To Convene In Bethlehem

By
David Bedein
-

Jerusalem, Israel – For the first time in more than 20 years, Fatah (Arabic for “conquest”), the dominant ruling power of the Palestinian Authority, will gather next week for a conference in Bethlehem, with than 1,7,50 of its active members expected to attend. This is the first since the 1993 signing of the Oslo Accords, which the Fatah never ratified.

Israel has decided not to not keep any delegate to the Fatah convention from being able to attend the parley next week in Bethlehem, including those coming from Syria and Lebanon.

A senior Fatah official Muhammad “Abu Maher” Ghneim returned to Palestinian territory on Wednesday from in Tunisia ahead of the movement’s general conference, which opens next week in Bethlehem. Palestinian news sources reported that President Mahmoud Abbas convinced Israeli authorities to allow Ghneim to attend the conference.

After crossing the Israeli-controlled Allenby Bridge border crossing from Jordan on Wednesday, Ghneim was whisked to the Palestinian Authority (PA) headquarters in Ramallah in a presidential car, accompanied by top negotiator Saeb Erekat. In Ramallah, the Fatah official was welcomed by Abbas in an official ceremony.

Ghneim’s return also marks a reversal in Palestinian politics. Ghneimopposed the Oslo peace agreements, and at first refused to return to Palestine until all of its territory was “liberated

On the eve of the conference, the Middle East Newsline broke the story that Israel’s military has determined that the ruling Fatah movement continues to engage in weapons smuggling, after capturing Fatah militia commanders who admitted to

smuggling weapons acquired weapons from such sources as Israeli organized crime, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority itself.

“The weapons are sold for profit, mostly to Israeli and Palestinian criminals, some of them who engage in terrorism,” a military source said.

Fatah weapons smugglers were operating in Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah and Tulkarm, in coordination with the Iranian-sponsored Islamic Jihad. Israeli military sources also confirm that Fatah weapons smugglers have also sold weapons to the opposition Hamas.

On July 24, the Israel Army arrested a suspected Fatah weapons smuggler in Nablus named as Nasser Mahmoud Abu Kishk, a 34-year-old Fatah militia operative from Nablus Abu Kishk, wanted by Israel for several years, was also said to have supplied weapons to Fatah’s Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which is identified by both Israel and by the United States intelligence agencies as a terrorist organization.

Israeli army spokesmen also said that Kishk has participated in shooting attacks against Israelis.

Policy Issues On The Agenda

An organization known as www.palwatch.org has put forward four policy issues for the Fatah to reconsider, if Fatah is to be seen as a real party to peace talks in the future.

1. Fatah does not recognize Israel’s right to exist. Fatah leaders emphasize that this ideology is current and not merely an oversight

2. Fatah continues to use maps that don’t acknowledge Israel’s existence

3. Fatah charter still calls for Israel’s destruction

4. Fatah continues to support the cease fire, only in terms of the continued armed struggle against Israel

Israel Renews Construction Supply Sale To Gaza

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

An area where Israel continues to cope with is the world wide campaign against Israel’s restrictions of potentially lethal exports into Gaza.

Since the Hamas terror takeover of Gaza in June 2007, Israel did halt the sale of iron, cement and other building materials into Gaza to prevent the construction of fortifications such as underground bunkers and the use iron to manufacture weapons and rockets

On July 16, a group of Philadelphia Rabbis, led by Rabbi Arthur Waskow of Germantown’s Shalom Center, organized Rabbis from all over the United States to conduct an international day of fasting to protest the Israeli “blockade” of humanitarian and medical supplies into gaza.

Due to such pressure, Israel on Thursday allowed renewed export of 300 tons of cement, steel pipes and construction materials into Gaza, for the first time since its military offensive last January.

Rabbi Waskow would not return phone calls to explain why he spread the false rumor that Israel had blocked humanitarian and medical supplies into Gaza.

Mr. Raed Fattouh, an official in the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy, confirmed in an interview with the Palestinian Ma’an news agency that cement would be shipped through UNRWA, the United Nation’s relief agency for Palestinian refugees. The Israeli government also approved the transfer of 25 million dollars in cash into Gaza each month, earmarked to pay the salaries of the Palestinian Authority workers and UNRWA workers-

An Israeli security establishment spokesman stressed that “We will carry out all the necessary examinations to ensure that the cement does not fall into the wrong hands-to Hamas,”

However, since Hamas terrorists won an overwhelming victory in the March 2009 UNRWA workers election, with Hamas winning more than 80% of the vote, UNRWA facilities are solidly in the hands of the Hamas terror personnel. This was the third straigt election which affirms the dominant Hamas role in UNRWA.

Israel Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, would not respond to a Bulletin query as to how Israel could avoid cement and cash payments from falling into the hands of Hamas, since Hamas personnel dominate UNRWA facilities in Gaza.

Fourth Anniversary Of Explusions Marked

This week, more than 2,000 people took part yesterday in a rally to mark the fourth anniversary of Israel’s expulsion of 21 Jewish communities from the Katif district of Gaza.

The rally, held near the Kissufim border crossing to the east of Gaza was attended by expelled residents from various Katif communities, including hundreds of teenagers and young children.

“I am a refugee in my own land and am trying to rehabilitate myself,”

said Mr. Avi Farhan, who was evicted from Yamit in the Sinai in April 1982 after the Camp David Accord and then from Elei Sinai in northern Gaza in August 2005. “You need to understand that it is going to take seven years of living out of boxes, moving from one rented apartment to another, until we move into our own house.”

At this point in time, 8 out of the 23 permanent communities earmarked for the Katif evictees are still under construction.

In 11 of the communities, preliminary infrastructure work has yet to be begun. Unemployment among the evictees is 21%, as opposed to the 5% unemployment rate that existed when the Katif communities were thriving.

What Do The Katif Communities Look Like Now?

Four years after the destruction of the 21 Katif Jewish communities, several Israeli journalists hired Palestinian cameramen to take pictures of the destroyed Jewish communities, to see what Palestinians had done there since taking over the area.

What Israelis want to know is whether overcrowded UNRWA refugee camps had moved into the abandoned Jewish communities of Katif.

Polls show that Israeli and international public opinion supported the eviction of the Jewish communities from Katif in order to enable a better life for thousands of Palestinian families who have been confined to teeming tenements of UNRWA refugee camps since 1948.

However, pictures taken by a Palestinian photographer show that contrary to what Israelis believed would happen, Palestinians have not built a single new house in the

any Katif community, four years after the destruction of these Jewish communities, where public buildings were allowed to remain..

The photographs indicate that the Palestinians completely destroyed anything that was left standing following the evacuation process, including synagogues and buildings that remained standing.

More than 100 photographs were taken in the framework of the project.

“What is sad is that it’s very hard to identify the buildings that are documented in the photographs,” said one Israeli journalist who had covered Katif for the international media.

Why have Palestinians from overcrowded UNRWA camps not moved into the abandoned Katif communities?

An UNRWA camp committee spokesman explained that, “These were not our homes – we want to move back to the homes that we left after we were expelled in 1948 – from places like Beer Sheva and Ashkelon”

Obama To Achieve Normalization Gestures From Arab World?

After several days of consultations with Israeli government officials, US Presidential Middle East envoy George Mitchell left his Israeli interlocutors with an assurance that President Obama would be able to extract some normalization gestures towards Israel from the Arab world within a month, following White House confirmation that Preisdent Obama had indeed sent letters leaders of Morrocco, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, asking them for confidence-building measures toward Israel.

However, Saudi Arabia, the kingpin of the Arab League of Nations which has been in a formal, full scale war with Israel since 1948, immediately responded with a full rejection of any gesture of normalization with Israel, so long as Israel does not relinquishsovereignty over Jerusalem, allow recognition of the right of return of Palestinian refugees from 1948, and stop the development of any Jewish community that lies in areas acquired by Israel in 1967.

Jerusalem Think Tank Attacks Obama On Failure To Name Anti-Semitism Envoy

By
David Bedein
-

Jerusalem, Israel – A monograph published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, run by Dr. Dore Gold, a close advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahy, entitled “The Politics of the American Response to Global Anti-Semitism.” has leveled stinging criticism of the Obama administration for failing to to name an envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism around the world. This position is mandated by US law. Since President Obama assumed his position on Jan. 20, the position has not been filled.

Dr. Rafael Medoff, director of the Washington DC-based David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, who wrote the monograph for the Jerusalem think tank, said that

“Foot-dragging on the selection sends a message that anti-Semitism is not of great importance to the United States,” said Medoff.

According to Medoff, “At a time when anti-Semitism remains a staple of government propaganda in the Middle East, when violent anti-Semitic incidents are reported almost daily throughout Europe, and when even the streets of Washington are not untouched by anti-Semitism’s violent potential, that is the wrong message to send.”

The State Department’s Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, which was established by a Congressional initiative in 2004, advocates American policy on anti-Semitism both in the US and internationally.

The proposal to establish such an office was initially opposed by the Bush administration, which took 18 months to appoint an envoy to head the office, Medoff said.

“On the one hand, it is understandable that at a time of multiple domestic and foreign crises, the Obama administration does not see this position as a top-tier concern,” Medoff wrote. “Yet it is nevertheless surprising how far down anti-Semitism appears to have slid on the new administration’s list of priorities, particularly when it was the Democrats themselves who fought so hard to create the position over the vehement opposition of the Bush administration.”

Israel Gov’t Accuses Rights Groups Of Fraud

By
David Bedein
-

Jerusalem, Israel – Over the past few weeks, the Israeli government has gone on the offensive against human rights groups who have publicized allegations against Israel for many months, without any concerted Israeli response.

One of these rights groups which gained attention of late has been “Breaking the Silence”.

This Israeli group held a press conference on April 1, 2009 in Sderot, one mile from Gaza, in which they announced that the British government had financed them to survey more than 1000 Israeli soldiers who had taken part in last December/January Israeli military incursion into Gaza, in order to “find evidence of Israeli war crimes against Gaza civilians”

An organization known as the Rabbis for Human Rights facilitated funding from the Spanish government to hold a conference this past Wednesday in which the Breaking the Silence organization promised to bring about thirty testimonies of Israeli soldiers who had witnesses crimes against Gazan civilians.

<!–
AdSys ad not found for news/world:instory –>

Rabbis for Human Rights had claimed that it had brought such testimonies to the attention of the Israeli army. However, the Israeli army spokes man issued a strong statement, saying that “testimonies were never presented” to the Israeli army from Rabbis for Human Rights or from “Breaking the silence:”

Neither were testimonies brought to the Wednesday conference – only anonyms statements by Israeli soldiers that they had heard of abuse of Palestinian civilians by Israeli soldiers.

However, the damage was done, and the impression left by the Rabbis for Human Rights in the world media is that Israel must have conducted atrocities against civilians in Gaza.

Most importantly, some board members of the Rabbis for Human Rights have reacted with disappointment that the “Breaking the Silence” group, after all of its publicity, could not and would not provide even one affidavit from an Israeli soldier who witnessed any atrocity by an Israeli soldier.

At the same time, the Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned the British Ambassador to Israel to express Israel’s “outrage” at the UK sponsorship for the “Breaking the Silence:” campaign.

Meanwhile, the Israeli government has issued an internet accessible 164 page report, “The Operation in Gaza: Factual and Legal Aspects”, which examines the biases of non-government organizations that have been issuing reports against Israel since the recent conflict.

On the central issue of how Palestinians used civilians as human shields, this Israeli government report noted that prominent human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, claimed to have no evidence of Hamas’ utilization of this practice.

The Israeli report also quoted Hamas operatives who openly bragged that they had launched rocket attacks from schools.

The report also described incidents “in which Hamas activists requested children to wheel carts laden with rockets, in case IDF forces noticed them.”

Numerous examples are provided, including televised speeches of a Hamas legislator who encouraged women, children and the elderly to use their bodies to protect Hamas military sites against Israeli attack.

Crossing red lines: NIF grantees call for divestment, rally behind Hamas supporters, call for end of Israelas a Jewish state

By
David Bedein
-

The New Israel Fund most recently told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that it would never cross “four red lines”:

http://blogs.jta.org/telegraph/article/2009/07/24/1006776/new-israel-funds-red-lines
• Engaging in racist behavior.
• Demonizing any particular group.
• Using or advocating violence as a means of effecting social change.
• Engaging in activities not supportive of NIF goals of promoting civil rights and social justice for all Israelis.

NIF also informed the the JTA that “our red lines now include those established by Israeli law governing amutot [Israeli nonprofits]. You have to be an amuta [Israeli nonprofit] to get a grant from us. Generally it’s the amuta law, which of course requires that organizations don’t work against the State of Israel. The Israeli government keeps a fairly close eye on amutot.” According to the JTA story, “The NIF agreement with grantees cites the Amutot Law of 1980: ‘An Amuta shall not be registered if any of its objectives negates the existence of the democratic character of the state of Israel.’” JTA also reported that “NIF grantees, including NIF-Ford grantees, must devote the funds to ‘charitable and educational purposes’ and not ‘carry on propaganda or otherwise attempt to influence specific legislation, either by direct or grass-roots lobbying.’”

This is not the first time that the NIF has laid out ground
rules for the activities of its grantees. In a recent letter to he the Philadelphia Jewish Voice, an NIF spokesperson stated that “NIF has never funded
groups that call for divestment”.

Yet while the New Israel Fund claims that it does not support groups that call for divestment from Israel, NIF funds the Coalition of Women for Peace, which recently hosted a meeting in Jaffa, where Naomi Klein spoke with local activists about the struggle against the occupation and the Palestinian call for BDS [boycott, divestment, sanctions].

The following is from the CWP’s description of the event.
“Klein’s public meetings, in Ramallah, East Jerusalem, Haiifa, and Jaffa drew hundreds of people to hear her clear-eyed analysis of why it is time for a full boycott of Israeluntil the occupation ends, Arab
Palestinian citizens of Israelhave full and equal rights, and the right of return for Palestinian refugees is fully realized under international
law… Her presentation of why BDS is right, now, was remarkable in that she consciously presented it as a positive, movement-building tool to build
a joint future with Palestinians, rather than as simply a method to punish Israelis. She spoke clearly about BDS as a tool of non-violent solidarity, comparing not complying with the BDS call with crossing an invisible
picket line.”

CWP has also called upon Norway to divest from Israel as did grantees Mossawa and Machsom Watch, as well as NIF affiliated organization The Israeli Committee against House Demolitions.

http://www.boycottisrael.info/content/israeli-organizations-call-norway-divest-israeli-occupation

In addition, CWP hosts “Who Profits” which lists businesses that make money of the “occupation” as a means of facilitating boycotts.

At the same time, NIF grantees I’lam, Mossawa and Adalah have called for the end of Israelas a Jewish state. Hanin Zoabi, currently an MK with the Balad party, and formerly the co-founder and director of I’lam has openly stated that she is not loyal to Israel and as director of I’lam, enthusiastically signed and embraced the Haifa Declaration which calls for Israel to cease a Jewish identity and to abandon “its destructive role towards the peoples
of the Region.” Meanwhile, I’lam’s International Relations Coordinator Nasser Victor Rego describes the Hamas terror group as a “genuinely emancipatory liberation and resistance movement…”

I’lam’s efforts to demonize Israeland the Jewish people can be seen in an article that I’lam posted on its old website entitled “Report from Jenin Refugee Camp: Even Flies Reveal What the Israeli Army Wants to Hide.” I’lam continues to contributed to the questionable claims of a “massacre” in Jenin in 2002 with the following I’lam report, laden with anti-semitic and anti-Zionist undertone

“The soldiers are the grandchildren of the Nazis’ victims, the Nazis’ survivors. They have come here to consume food quickly and consume life quickly. This is the true image of Israel. The real Israelis not in the clean, lofty suburbs of Northern Tel-Aviv…It is not in the literary
cafes and journalists’ clubs…It is not its High Court. I saw the real Israel, its ugliness in the Jenin Refugee Camp on Monday, April 15, 2002. The rest remains decor for murder.“

I’lam also produces and distributes a video for Israeli Arabs entitled “Lama Zafouk”, which portrays Israeli Jewish security personnel executing Israeli Arab citizens cowering beneath a tree at a point blank range.

I’lam’s claims of Jenin massacre are hosted on the NIF web site, which states that “…the ethical guideline in ‘peace journalism’ reporting is to accurately and justifiably use the term ‘massacre’…” It seems that this NIF grantee has chosen to redefine the use of the term “massacre”.

I’lam and NIF have introduced a new norm of journalistic ethics, fostering “peace journalism” in which the standard guidelines for press ethics are turned on their heels.

Adalah, a key New Israel Fund flagship grantee in the Israeli Arab sector, expresses consistent support
for Sheikh Raed Salah, the fiery leader of the northern branch of Israel’s Islamic movement, whose rabid incitement against Israel, Zionism and Jews is legendary.

Salah claims that there was never a Jewish presence on the Temple Mountand called for an intifada to protect Al-Aqsa from a Jewish plot

Salah remains a member of the board of trustees of the ‘Union of Good, an umbrella group which openly funnels seemingly charitable funds to Hamas-affiliated organizations.

When Salah’s offices were shut down by the Israeli government in 2008, Adalah protested on behalf of Salah..
> >
What does NIF say when their own red lines are crossed? In the words of an NIF spokesperson, “The New Israel Fund does not require ideological conformity from its grantees…What we look for in grantees is..a general commonality of values.”

While NIF accuses its opponents of stifling debate, NIF demonize its critics. In defending the NIF’s support of Mossawa, after it called for the end of the Jewish nature of Israel NIF CEO Larry Garber characterized NIF’s detractors “those whose notion of Israel
contemplates ethnic cleansing.”

The question remains: Does the NIF’s advocacy of tolerance extend only to those who support their activities?

Senior Fatah Offiicial: Seek Alliance with Iran

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=216259

Jerusalem – Ma’an – The time has come for Fatah, Palestine’s largest
political party, to seek a strategic alliance with Iran, the movement’s
Jerusalem affairs liaison Hatim Abdul Qader told Ma’an on Saturday.

In a statement, Abdul Qader said that in light of Israel’s disinterest in
achieving a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians, the Fatah movement
was left with no choice but to seek help abroad from Iran.

He insisted that he was referring just to the party, and not to the
Palestinian Authority government in Ramallah. Abdul Qader resigned from his
post as PA minister of Jerusalem affairs in July.

The more secular Fatah has in the past avoided relations with Iran ever
since its Islamic Revolution in 1979, although the Palestinian movement was
generally supportive of Iran’s efforts to throw off Western rule. Hamas and
Iran have open relations.

“The challenges that face the Palestinian people, in terms of unprecedented
attacks and dangers in Jerusalem, oblige the Fatah movement to formulate its
regional strategic alliances based on new principles and criteria,” Abdul
Qader said.

He encouraged the upcoming Fatah conference to adopt a political program
that formulates new relations with Iran due to its strategic importance and
influence. Abdul Qader argued that the Islamic republic’s power in the
region ought to be exploited to serve the Palestinian cause and the cause of
Jerusalem.

Abdul Qader also claimed that former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami was
one of the few leaders in the region who supported former Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat’s rejection of Israeli proposals at Camp David in 2000, unlike
many other Arab regimes.

The Fatah leader also said that despite Iran’s excellent relations with
Hamas, it still views Fatah as the leader of the Palestinian national
struggle, and would be willing to help. He also suggested linking the
Palestinian and Syrian tracks in any future negotiations with Israel.

Last month, the Palestine Liberation Organization’s top negotiator, Saeb
Erekat, met with Iran’s foreign minister for the first time in Egypt. Erekat
told Ma’an he spoke with Manouchehr Mottaki about reconciliation talks,
national unity, and other regional and Palestinian issues.

FATAH CONGRESS: NO RECOGNITION OF ISRAEL AS JEWISH STATE

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

On Tuesday Fatah will hold its sixth congress in Bethlehem, at which point a draft party platform will
be put to the vote. That draft explicitly notes that Israel must not be
recognized as a Jewish state. Excerpts from the proposed platform were
posted yesterday on the official website of the sixth Fatah congress.
This is to be the first time in 20 years that elections for the party
leadership are to be held, and members of the congress are going to be
asked to ratify the proposed platform.

The platform notes that Fatah “praises the struggle by peaceful means
and restricts the use of violence, such as an Intifada, demonstrations,
clashes with settlers, so that the means of struggle are chosen at the
time and place that meet the public’s abilities.”…

Fatah’s political platform calls for the “liberation of the homeland,
an end to the settlements and the realization of the Palestinian
people’s rights. Fatah rejects any harm or terrorism perpetrated against
civilians and war outside the lands of the homeland except in the event
of self-defense. As such, we reject hijacking planes, holding women and
children hostage or attacks that are geared to harm innocent civilians,
or rocket fire at civilian targets.”

The Fatah platform will also call for increased international
pressure on Israel and will oppose any normalization between the Arab
states and Israel unless the occupation is ended.
The Fatah platform also refuses to accept the Israeli demand that the
Palestinians declare that they have no further demands from Israel until
a final status arrangement is reached. The platform also calls for a
“strategic channel with Iran to be opened.”

END

FATAH CONGRESS: WE WILL NOT REMOVE THE ARMED STRUGGLE FROM PLATFORM

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

The Fatah congress will not remove the clause supporting armed struggle from its
platform, and will add a clause declaring that the movement does not,
and will never, recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

The new platform, which will be brought for approval two days from
now during the movement’s congress, will contain one positive change: a
moderation of the clause saying that armed struggle is the only way to
liberate Palestine, with the addition that negotiations must be given an
opportunity to resolve the conflict. “Fatah will reserve the right to
resistance until the goals of the Palestinian people for an independent
state on the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital, have been
achieved,” the platform will read.

The seventeen hundred delegates to the Fatah congress will gather in
Bethlehem in an atmosphere of an internal Palestinian crisis whose focus
is the deepening rift with Hamas and with the Hamas entity in Gaza.
Hamas operatives are making it difficult to hold the congress and are
trying to prevent the arrival of Fatah delegates from the Gaza Strip. It
appears that only 27 of the delegates from the Gaza Strip will
participate in the event.

Israel, on the other hand, is helping Abu Mazen to hold a successful
congress. By Abu Mazen’s personal request of Netanyahu, Mohammed Ghneim,
a Fatah leader who has been marked as Abu Mazen’s successor, has been
allowed to enter the territories. Israel also allowed delegates who live
in Lebanon and in Syria to enter the territories in order to participate
in the conference, and will allow the West Bank delegates easier entry
into Bethlehem on Tuesday. Reports about the draft of the platform say
that Fatah is likely to decide to open a strategic channel with Iran.
“It is obvious that the Iranians will be quick to set Hamas to rule over
the Palestinians and throw Fatah into the dustbin of history,”
high-ranking Israeli political officials said.

Ma’ariv (p. 6) reports: Officials close to Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu said they were surprised by neither the draft platform nor the
Saudi foreign minister’s statements against normalization, both of which
push off the possibility of making progress in the peace process and
impede US President Barack Obama’s efforts to achieve a breakthrough.
Senior Likud officials with close relations to Netanyahu said: “The
ball is back in the White House’s court. Maybe Obama, who gave enormous
credit to the Arabs and applied pressure on Israel, will now understand
who it is that he’s dealing with.”

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